


My Witness Brings Me Into Existence

by WhatsYourNameMan



Series: It’s not Sunset Cis either [16]
Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Coming Out, Fluff, Luke and Reggie are trans too but that’s not relevant, M/M, Mostly a willex date, Nonbinary Character, Rated T for language, Trans Alex Mercer, Trans Character, but they only use they in this one, gender euphoria, he/they willie, just pure fluff, with a lil bit of band bonding at the end
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-12
Updated: 2021-01-12
Packaged: 2021-03-16 21:01:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28713195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhatsYourNameMan/pseuds/WhatsYourNameMan
Summary: When Willie came out to Alex, they told him that they didn’t care what people called them. That they liked being calledhe. That they didn’t feel it was important to tell the rest of their friends or family yet. All of it is true, but lately Willie’s been feeling a little less confident in the last point. They just went through so much turmoil trying to figure out what was going on with their gender identity; it would be nice to hear someone outside of their boyfriend or their Tía call themthey.
Relationships: Alex Mercer/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Julie Molina/Luke Patterson, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Willie & Tía Victoria
Series: It’s not Sunset Cis either [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2022667
Comments: 17
Kudos: 209





	My Witness Brings Me Into Existence

**Author's Note:**

> No content warnings on this one other than maybe a little dysphoria at the beginning. 
> 
> This one was a request from takemebythehand-andsetmefree on tumblr: “maybe Willie and Alex going on a date or just out and someone uses they/them pronouns without prompting? Like a waiter asking them something?”
> 
> Title from “I/Me/Myself” by Will Wood and the Tapeworms. The “It’s not Sunset Cis either” playlist can be found [here](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5Jhsn0cg0JZskwAGwc6ZXP?si=-SUrLQPgS_mbtwaUzl2tcQ%E2%80%9C)

Willie’s never had trouble picking out what to wear on a date before. They’ve never had trouble picking out what to wear, period. They don’t even know what’s different about today. Maybe it’s the fact that they finally got Alex to agree to try a restaurant they’ve never been to before. Maybe it’s the fact that they looked at the way their hair fell in the mirror this morning and immediately thought _pretty_ rather than _handsome_. Maybe it’s the fact that they just like messing with people, and they would love if just once someone looked at them and thought _I have no idea what the fuck that person is._

When Willie came out to Alex, they told him that they didn’t care what people called them. That they liked being called _he_. That they didn’t feel it was important to tell the rest of their friends or family yet. All of it is true, but lately Willie’s been feeling a little less confident in the last point. They just went through so much turmoil trying to figure out what was going on with their gender identity; it would be nice to hear someone outside of their boyfriend or their Tía call them _they_. 

So here they are, standing in their boxers, trying to decide between a skirt or shorts like it’s life-or-death. They already settled on a shirt—their blue and yellow tie-dye crop top, their favorite— and the shorts would look better with it. It’s a tried-and-true outfit, and Willie likes limiting the variables when going to a new place. But when they try the skirt on, it sends a shock of euphoria through them. They look wonderfully androgynous, especially with their hair in a half-braid on the side of their head and all their jewelry on display. They stare down their reflection, willing themself to just make a decision already.

“Willie,” Tía calls, snapping them out of their thoughts, “Alex is here.”

Willie lets out a sigh of relief at the decision being made for them. The skirt it is. They grab the cell phone Tía insisted on buying them and rush to the living room, where Alex waits just inside the front door. His eyes light up when he sees Willie, eyes scanning their outfit. 

“Wow,” he grins, “you look beautiful.” 

Willie blushes and is about to stammer out a half-witted response about how nice Alex’s hair looks, but Tía saves them from their embarrassment by dropping a hand on their shoulder. 

“Be safe,” she says. “Call me if you need me, and be home by dinner.”

Willie rolls their eyes, but they give her a fond smile. “Got it, Tía.”

Tía kisses both of them on the cheek before shooing them out the door. They choose to walk to the restaurant instead of poofing, partially because it’s broad daylight, but also because they want the time to just hold hands and talk. Alex tells Willie about a pompous promoter that Reggie nearly decked after their last gig, and Willie rambles to Alex about this book they’re reading about how documentaries impose human gender and sexuality norms on animals even when they don’t apply. Alex nods along, asking clarifying questions when Willie uses language that’s too academic, and Willie is struck for the millionth time with the realization that they are so incredibly lucky to have found Alex. No one in their life or death had ever been this willing to listen to them talk about their random niche interests, but Alex listens like Willie is his favorite song. 

At their leisurely pace, it takes about half an hour to reach the restaurant, but it feels like five minutes. It’s a cute little place with a seaside view and outdoor seating. The hostess is pleasant and gives them the best table, right at the edge of the patio. There’s only a few other customers, as Willie intentionally chose a slow hour to avoid stressing Alex out. 

“So,” Willie says as they open their menus, “did I do a good job picking a place or what?” 

“Don’t get too cocky,” Alex says. “We haven’t tasted the food yet. You should know that dying of food poisoning and not eating for twenty-five years has made me a _little_ picky.” 

A man walks by their table as Alex says this, and throws him a strange look. Willie and Alex wait until he’s out of ear shot, then burst into laughter. 

“Man,” Willie says, trying to catch their breath through their giggles, “sometimes I wish we were still invisible. It’d be so fun to haunt the fuck out of him right now.” 

“You still have some of your tricks, don’t you?” Alex asks, wiggling his fingers like Willie does when referring to their ghost powers. 

Willie beams. “I like where your head’s at, Hotdog.” They turn to the nearly empty parking lot and take their best guess at which car is the man’s. They flick their hand at it, and the car alarm goes off, shattering the serene afternoon air. 

The man leaps up from his table, swearing and running out to the car. Willie and Alex laugh their asses off as he manages to turn off the alarm only for Willie to set it off again. 

Willie’s phone starts to ring, and they pull it out of their pocket to check it. “It’s Tía,” they says, and Alex’s laughter immediately dies. 

“Do you think she knows we’re using our powers?” he asks, eyes wide with fear. 

“No, how could she?” Willie says, but there’s a twinge of nervousness behind their words. Tía hates it when the ghosts their powers. Willie takes a deep breath and answers the phone. “Hello?” 

“ _Mijo, I can’t find my wallet, did you take it by accident?_ ” 

Willie lets out a sigh of relief. “No, did you check your purse?” 

“ _It’s not there, I’ve torn the whole house apart..._ ” 

Willie rolls his eyes at Alex as Tía describes her failed attempts to locate the wallet. They spot a waitress heading towards their table. 

“Tía,” they try to interrupt. “I have to—“

“ _I even called Carlos and he was no help..._ ” 

“Hi, I’m Lana, what can I get you?” 

Willie flashes the waitress an apologetic smile and gestures for Alex to order first. 

“I’ll have the burger, with no tomatoes,” Alex says, as Tía prattles on into Willie’s ear about what she found in the bathroom cabinet while looking. 

Lana writes down Alex’s order and gestures to Willie. “Do you know what they want?” 

Willie freezes, their attention wrenched away from Tía. Did they hear her right? From the megawatt smile on Alex’s face, they did. A warm, giddy feeling builds in Willie’s stomach as they put their phone down, letting Tía keep talking to the air. 

“I’ll have the burger too, thanks,” they say, and they’re not just thanking her for the food. 

Lana notes it down and gives them a smile before going off to place the order. 

Willie turns to Alex, who’s just beaming at them, clearly waiting for their reaction. 

“She called me _they_ ,” Willie says, their voice gone quiet with awe. “I didn’t even have to ask her to.”

Alex’s smile grows bigger. “How does it feel?”

“Fucking amazing,” Willie says, a laugh bubbling its way out of their mouth. “Oh my god.” Seems like the skirt _was_ the right choice for today. 

“All right,” Alex says, “I’ll give it to you. You did a great job picking a place.” 

Willie laughs and is about to retort, when he hears Tía’s tinny voice coming through the phone speakers. 

“ _Willie? Are you listening?_ ” She yells. “ _William!_ ”

Willie swears and snatches up the phone. “I’m here, Tía. To be fair, _you’re_ the one interrupting my date.”

Alex shakes his head. “You’re so dead,” he whispers. 

“Yeah, for thirty-one years,” Willie shoots back. 

But if they listen to Tía a little more closely for fear of retribution-via-grounding, that’s none of Alex’s business. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

A few days later, Willie sits on the couch in the studio while Alex stands behind them, braiding their hair. Julie is next to them, and Luke is next to Alex, desperately trying to copy the drummer’s motions on Julie’s hair. Reggie lays upside down on the chair, running through a riff he’s been having difficulty with. 

“This is so hard,” Luke groans, messing up the braid for the fifth time in as many minutes. “How are you so good at this?”

Alex shrugs. “Practice.” 

Though Willie is nearly comatose from the relaxing sensation of Alex’s fingers in their hair, a memory flicks across their mind of an old picture Alex showed them. It was from one of his dance recitals, and his hair was done up in an elaborate system of braids. Willie didn’t know Alex had done that himself. 

“I’ve _been_ practicing,” Luke whines. 

“For all of five minutes,” Reggie snorts. 

Julie sighs. “Guess I just have to accept I’ll never look as good as Willie.” 

“Hey,” Willie says, grabbing her hand. “Stop talking shit about Julie Molina or I’ll kick your ass.” 

Julie rolls her eyes, but she smiles at them. 

“His hair’s straighter,” Luke says, gesturing towards Willie, who tenses ever so slightly at the pronoun. “That’s gotta count for something, right? Isn’t curly hair harder?” 

“Excuses,” Alex scoffs, shaking his head. He ties up the end of Willie’s braid and places a kiss on their head. 

“Um, actually.” Willie pauses and blinks, completely surprising themself by speaking. They take a deep breath, remembering that euphoric feeling from the restaurant. “I wanted to let you guys know that I use they/them pronouns. I mean, I still like he/him and all that, but if you could just,” they wiggle their fingers, trying to mask their nerves behind humor “sprinkle a few _they_ ’s in there, that would be nice.” 

“Yeah, of course,” Julie says. She tugs her hair out of Luke’s hands so she can properly look at Willie. 

Luke makes a sound of protest, but he pats Willie’s shoulder. “Thanks for telling us.”

Reggie flips right side up and beams at his friends. “So Julie is the token lifer _and_ the token cis? How does it feel?”

“It feels like you’re forgetting Flynn,” Julie says, and Reggie’s eyes widen. 

“Please don’t tell her,” he begs. “I can’t handle her being mad at me again. She wouldn’t let me pet her dog for a month.” 

“Filing that one away for blackmail purposes,” Willie smirks, tapping their temple. “If I play my cards right I’ll never have to paint my own nails again.”

“This is extortion,” Reggie whines. He thinks for a moment, then leans in towards Willie. “But I did just get this really nice blue, it’ll match your crop top perfectly.” 

“Don’t make them look too pretty,” Luke jokes, and Willie’s heart soars. “Alex won’t be able to handle it.”

Alex shoves Luke, his cheeks going bright red. “You’re one to talk.”

The two of them dissolve into an argument about who’s farther gone for their significant other. Willie watches them with a grin on their face, and once again reminds themself how wonderfully, stupidly lucky they really are.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments are much appreciated if you enjoyed :) 
> 
> The book Willie mentions reading is The Queer Art of Failure by Jack Halberstam. It’s really fascinating. 
> 
> I’m wr0temyway0ut on tumblr is you want to come chat about these ghosties or request a fic!


End file.
